Conventional content transmission networks can be configured to provide a data stream from a source transmitter (e.g., cable hub, satellite, etc.) to a receiver (e.g., cable receiver, satellite dish, etc.). A conventional transmitter can be configured to handle a certain amount of bandwidth (e.g., 40 megabits per second), which may be determined (e.g., limited) by the physical technology used to facilitate the transmissions. Traditional content streams may consume a smaller amount of data, e.g., a single high definition digitally encoded channel may consume an average of 4 megabits per second. Thus, a conventional content provider can transmit a plurality of channels on a single transmitter, e.g., a 40 megabit transmitter can transmit approximately ten 4 megabit channels. Conventional video encoding sizes can depend on the video content, not only the resolution and format of the underlying video, and therefore, fluctuate in the amount of bandwidth each channel consumes at any given moment. Conventional averaging, load-balancing, and/or statistical analysis can be used to configure the channel loads of each transmission stream and determine the exact number of channels on a transmission stream. Regardless of the exact number, each conventional transmission stream can be configured to carry a plurality of channels.
For a particular transmission stream, a plurality of channels can be encoded with a codeword or some other encryption method, multiplexed together and transmitted to a receiving arrangement. The receiving arrangement can include a tuner that selects which of the plurality of channels a user is “tuned” to and decode that particular channel to present on a video output device (e.g., television) and/or record to a storage device (e.g., digital video recorder). The receiving arrangement can conventionally receive one (or some small number of) transmission streams, and can conventionally decode one (or some small number of) channels within the one transmission stream. In one example, a conventional operation can include transmitting eighty channels on ten streams, with eight channels per stream. When a user tunes to or records a particular channel, the receiver arrangement (e.g., a user's satellite dish and receiver box) can tune to the particular data stream having that channel and then decode the particular channel. When a user changes channels within the same transmission stream, the receiving arrangement can immediately begin decoding the new channel. When a user changes channels to a channel on a different transmission stream, the receiving arrangement can tune to the new data stream, and begin decoding the particular channel. Conventional arrangements typically provide one tuner or two tuners, sometimes four tuners, but could provide any other number. Typically however, the number of channels that can be recorded and/or viewed at any one time is a very small subset of all available channels, and each tuner can typically decode only one channel at a time, limiting the number of recordable channels to the number of independent tuners included in the conventional receiving arrangement.